It’s hard to expect children to be educated and thoughtful when their teachers are mega-idiots.
Associated Press: Teacher sorry for binding girls in slavery lesson By JIM FITZGERALD
A white social studies teacher attempted to enliven a seventh-grade discussion of slavery by binding the hands and feet of two black girls, prompting outrage from one girl’s mother and the local chapter of the NAACP. After the mother complained to Haverstraw Middle School, the superintendent said he was having “conversations with our staff on how to deliver effective lessons.”
“If a student was upset, then it was a bad idea,” said Superintendent Brian Monahan of the North Rockland School District in New York City’s northern suburbs.
Notice the brilliant logic by Superintendant Brian “Chalmers” Monahan: “if the student was upset” then it must have been a “bad idea.” Nevermind the fact that the student’s reaction is irrelevant. The teacher’s judgment was totally lacking whether the student loved being bound or hated it.
The teacher apologized to the mother who complained and her 13-year-old daughter during a meeting Thursday that also included a representative of the local NAACP. But the mother, Christine Shand of Haverstraw, said Friday she thinks the teacher should be removed from the class.
“I think the teacher should have gotten some discipline,” Shand said. “I know if that was me, I would be uncomfortable going back to that class. Why should my daughter have to switch?”
Monahan refused to say what, if any, measures were taken against the teacher, Eileen Bernstein, who was still working on Friday. The school district said she was not available for comment.
“We encourage our teachers to deliver the curriculum in a variety of ways, to go beyond just reading the textbook,” the superintendent said. “We don’t want to discourage creativity. But this obviously went wrong because the student was upset.”
See above.
Filed under: Education or Lack Thereof , Christine Shand, Eileen Bernstein, Haverstraw, Haverstraw Middle School, NAACP, North Rockland School District, Superintendant Brian Monahan
